1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to communication systems, and, more particularly, to wireless communication systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wireless communication systems are commonly employed to provide voice and/or data communications. Existing and emerging wireless communication systems are generally comprised of heterogeneous collections of air-interface technologies, network architectures, and wireless protocols. For example, wireless communication systems may operate using IEEE-802.11 (Wi-Fi) wireless networks that provide access to local area and “hotspot” networks, Bluetooth connectivity, IEEE-802.16 (WiMax) networks that provide fixed wireless and mobile broadband access, Evolution Data Optimized networks (1xEVDO) that provide access to third generation (3G) mobile data users, and the like.
Wireless communications introduce a new degree of security risk over conventional land-based systems. In a wireless environment, adversaries are able to more easily eavesdrop on communications because information is sent over a wireless link that is considered more accessible than conventional land-based channels. Moreover, with the proliferation of mobile devices (e.g., laptop computers, cell phones, personal digital assistances, and the like), users are becoming increasingly susceptible to adversary attacks attempting to gain unauthorized access to stored data.
In public settings, for example, such as an airport terminal, adversaries may attempt to eavesdrop on wireless communications to intercept authentication data, such as passwords, media access control (MAC) addresses, personal identification numbers (PINs), security keys, and the like. Adversaries may use this information to gain unauthorized access to wireless communication systems and/or other mobile devices. To illustrate this point, in the case of the Bluetooth protocol, an adversary may eavesdrop during the pairing of mobile devices. As used herein, the terms ‘authentication’, ‘authenticate’, ‘pairing’, and ‘pair’ are intended to be used interchangeably to generally refer to algorithms, processes, mechanisms, and/or data used to establish trusted communications. During the pairing process, the adversary may “listen” to intercept the PIN(s) of one or more mobile devices. With this information, the adversary may decode data required to pair itself with one or more of the mobile devices participating in the wireless communication. If successful, the adversary may gain unauthorized access to personal data, such as calendar data, address books, email, credit card information, and the like.
An exemplary attack algorithm is described, for example, in a paper titled “Cracking the Bluetooth PIN” by Yaniv Shaked and Avishai Wool; the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. In this paper, with respect to the Bluetooth protocol, the authors describe a shortcoming that exists in relying solely on an n-digit PIN to pair one mobile device with another. In particular, the authors describe an algorithm that can be used with an intercepted PIN of a mobile device to “crack” conventional Bluetooth authentication mechanisms in less than a second. Other protocols used in different wireless technologies, such as Wi-Fi, 1xEVDO, and the like, suffer from similar deficiencies in that adversaries have proven successful in intercepting authentication data and using this data to gain unauthorized access to confidential data.
What is needed, therefore, is an authentication mechanism that, when called upon, better ensures only trusted mobile devices are permitted to pair with one another and/or exchange data with a wireless communication network.
The present invention is directed to addressing the effects of one or more of the problems set forth above.